Judge rejects request: Suspect’s blood-test results allowed in fatal accident trial

A judge has denied a request from a Columbus tow truck driver involved in a fatal accident to suppress blood test results that showed he had methamphetamine and amphetamine in his blood when the accident occurred.

Bartholomew Circuit Court Judge Kelly Benjamin ruled that blood draw evidence and toxicology reports for Ruel Pedigo III, 49, of 1085 Jonesville Road, will remain in evidence on pending charges of operating a vehicle with a controlled substance in the blood, a Level 4 felony; reckless homicide, a Level 5 felony; and causing serious bodily injury when operating a motor vehicle with a controlled substance in the blood, a Level 6 felony, the least serious of the felony charges.

The charges stem from a multi-vehicle accident at 7:40 p.m. Jan. 27 in the eastbound lanes of Jonathan Moore Pike near Johnson Boulevard, involving as many as six vehicles.

Investigators said Pedigo was driving a Ford F650 tow truck with a vehicle on the flatbed when he rear-ended a Mazda 3 car driven by Patrick N. Bowman, 35, of Brown County, who died from injuries sustained in the crash. Bowman, who was originally from Columbus, graduated from Columbus North High School in 2001.

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An adult passenger in Bowman’s car, Sarah Fliehman, also of Brown County, suffered a head injury.

A number of collisions occurred among vehicles in front of the Mazda after the tow truck hit it, accident reconstructionists said in court documents.

In arguments before Benjamin on Nov. 20, Pedigo’s attorney, John Razumich of Indianapolis, said that even though Pedigo had consented to a blood draw following the Jan. 27 accident, there was no probable cause for Columbus police officers to offer, or require it.

Razumich argued that officers didn’t have probable cause after a portable breath test to seek the blood draw, and it violated Pedigo’s Fourth Amendment rights because the sample was obtained without a warrant.

Bartholomew County Deputy Prosecutor Lindsey Kay argued police followed procedure and Indiana law in seeking the blood draw and that Pedigo consented and signed the form signifying his consent.

Benjamin ruled that Indiana law allows a police officer to offer a portable breath test or chemical test, and may offer more than one of the tests, based solely on the basis that a fatal accident has occurred, not on the outward signs of intoxication or impairment exhibited by a driver.

During the hearing, Razumich questioned Columbus police Sgt. Ben Goodin and officer John Morphew about their handling of the accident scene, including the officers’ decision to test all the drivers with a portable breath test, with the exception of Bowman who had died, in which all tested with no indication of alcohol intoxication.

Goodin testified he ordered Morphew to administer the breath test to Pedigo because officers believed the tow truck driver had caused the accident and it involved a fatality. Goodin also told Morphew to read Pedigo the implied consent request for a blood draw because it was a fatal accident. Goodin and Morphew testified Pedigo consented verbally, and in writing, to the chemical test.

Although Razumich had argued that there was no probable cause to seek the blood draw from Pedigo since he had already received the breath test and passed, and that officers did not detect any overt signs of intoxication, Benjamin ruled that offering a driver a portable breath test first does not preclude an officer from offering another test.

Indiana’s implied consent law states that a person who operates a vehicle consents to submit to a portable breath test or chemical test as a condition of operating a vehicle in Indiana and must submit to such test offered by a law enforcement officer in order to comply with the statute, Benjamin’s ruling states.

“Pedigo was offered a portable breath test (which showed a PBT of .000) and then, as allowed pursuant to Indiana Code 9-30-7-3, offered a second test, a chemical test. Pedigo consented to both. This is not a violation of Pedigo’s constitutional rights,” Benjamin’s ruling states.

The judge said Pedigo’s voluntary consenting to the chemical test after being advised of Indiana’s implied consent law for crashes involving fatalities falls under one of the well-recognized exceptions to a search warrant requirement — a voluntary and knowing consent to search.

Pedigo did give a statement to Morphew at the hospital after the blood draw, saying he had just exited I-65 south and was heading east on Jonathan Moore Pike when an unidentified small black car changed from the left-turn lane to Pedigo’s lane. Pedigo told police he tried to brake, but slid, causing the accident, court documents state.

Pedigo told police he was going 25 to 30 mph when he hit the Mazda, which resulted in Bowman’s death. However, when investigators downloaded the airbag diagnostic sensing module in the tow truck, the data showed he was traveling between 37 and 40 mph in the seconds leading up to the crash and that he did not apply the brakes until about 1 second prior to impact with the Mazda, court documents state.

Prosecutors in the case have said in earlier interviews they will not offer a plea bargain in Pedigo’s case.

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Upon a joint motion of prosecutors and the defense, Ruel Pedigo III’s jury trial is set for 8:30 a.m. April 30, with a pre-trial hearing set for 11:15 a.m. March 25 in Bartholomew Circuit Court.

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